Berlin Jews Learn Hebrew

Is it not an overstatement to say that Jewish Berlin
is learning Hebrew? Are
there not, even now, many Jews in Berlin, as there are all over the
world, who speak very little or no Hebrew? It is true that many people
are still estranged from the holy language, but on the other hand it
is a fact that recent times have brought about a sudden rise in the
interest in the Hebrew language in the Diaspora. It cannot be explained
simply by a change of circumstances; it runs much deeper. In these times
of intensive Jewish experience, many  one may even say the majority
of Jews  have understood what spiritual strength can be drawn
from the cultural assets of the past. In these times, when everything
is unstable, a new cultural value has been revealed for us in the Diaspora,
a value that has proven its firmness through thousands of years, and
which can provide us with something to grasp on to. The younger generation
in particular feels that many of the European cultural values that we
have accepted over the past centuries have lost their appeal. They therefore
return to the world of our ancestors, which today is becoming the world
of our children

The Problem of Teachers

Speaking of the problems of Hebrew instruction, one
should not disregard the teaching problems. There is a shortage of Hebrew
teachers, and there are certain difficulties in assigning teachers who
often come from other backgrounds and places to positions in the Berlin
environment

It is especially difficult to teach Hebrew to the
older generation, especially if they had only an elementary education,
and therefore have no background in grammar. One attempts in these cases
to overcome the difficulty by working on the spoken language.

The outcome of the courses

The outcome of the courses in which youngsters and
older people sit together is nevertheless not negligible. An experienced
teacher told us that the average student in a six months course gains
a vocabulary of about one thousand words, which gives him a basis on
which to build. We visited one of these courses, which allowed us some
insight into this work. There were nineteen students, among them fourteen
women, not all of them young. They practiced basic conversation. Each
participant tried, mostly in a very sympathetic way, to manage with
his or her vocabulary and to form his or her own sentences

Hebrew is without a doubt once again a value in the
life of Berlin Jews. A connection is being established to the past,
and it will serve as a bridge to the future as well.